The Traverse City training has been rescheduled to 2/28.

What is the American Civil Liberties Union?

For almost 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

What is the Campaign for Smart Justice?
The ACLU of Michigan’s Campaign for Smart Justice is an unprecedented, multi-year effort to challenge racism in the criminal legal system and reduce the U.S. jail and prison population by 50%. Throughout the campaign, we’ll work to reform bail practices in Michigan, sentencing guidelines, and build accountability for prosecutor conduct. 

What is Campaign Advocates Training?
The first phase of our campaign will be building our power to make changes in our state legislature, but to do that, we need you! We are training advocates on best practices for engaging with elected officials and advancing the issues most important to them. 

Who are you looking for?
This training is open to everybody! We want people who are willing and eager to learn about the criminal legal system and what it takes to change it. If you have prior campaigning experience, that's great - but if you don't, your passion and dedication are what's important.

Great! When and where are the trainings?
We’re hosting four trainings across the state, join us at one near you!

  1. Grand Rapids: February 23, 2019, 1p - 3p, ACLU-MI Grand Rapids Office: 1514 Wealthy Street SE, Grand Rapids
  2. Detroit: February 26, 2019, 6.30p - 8.30p, ACLU-MI Detroit Office: 2966 Woodward Ave, Detroit
  3. Saginaw: February 27, 2019, 6p - 8p, Delta College Ricker Center: 1925 S Outer Dr, Saginaw
  4. Traverse City: February 28, 2019, 6p - 8p, Conflict Resolution Services: 2240 S Airport Rd West, Traverse City

Light refreshments will be provided. 

If you have any questions, either comment below or reach out to our Public Engagement Strategist, Jessica Ayoub, at jayoub@aclumich.org.

Event Date

Thursday, February 28, 2019 - 7:00pm to
Friday, March 1, 2019 - 8:45pm

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Venue

Conflict Resolution Services Building

Address

2240 S. Airport Rd. West
Traverse City, MI 49684
United States

E-mail address

jayoub@aclumich.org

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Date

Thursday, February 28, 2019 - 9:00pm

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What is the American Civil Liberties Union?
For almost 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

What is the Campaign for Smart Justice?
The ACLU of Michigan’s Campaign for Smart Justice is an unprecedented, multi-year effort to challenge racism in the criminal legal system and reduce the U.S. jail and prison population by 50%. Throughout the campaign, we’ll work to reform bail practices in Michigan, sentencing guidelines, and build accountability for prosecutor conduct. 

What is Campaign Advocates Training?
The first phase of our campaign will be building our power to make changes in our state legislature, but to do that, we need you! We are training advocates on best practices for engaging with elected officials and advancing the issues most important to them. 

Who are you looking for?
This training is open to everybody! We want people who are willing and eager to learn about the criminal legal system and what it takes to change it. If you have prior campaigning experience, that's great - but if you don't, your passion and dedication are what's important.

Great! When and where are the trainings?
We’re hosting four trainings across the state, join us at one near you!

  1. Grand Rapids: February 23, 2019, 1p - 3p, ACLU-MI Grand Rapids Office: 1514 Wealthy Street SE, Grand Rapids
  2. Traverse City: February 25, 2019, 6p - 8p, Conflict Resolution Services: 2240 S Airport Rd West, Traverse City
  3. Detroit: February 26, 2019, 6.30p - 8.30p, ACLU-MI Detroit Office: 2966 Woodward Ave, Detroit
  4. Saginaw: February 27, 2019, 6p - 8p, Delta College Ricker Center: 1925 S Outer Dr, Saginaw

Light refreshments will be provided. 

If you have any questions, either comment below or reach out to our Public Engagement Strategist, Jessica Ayoub, at jayoub@aclumich.org.

Event Date

Saturday, February 23, 2019 - 4:00pm to
Sunday, February 24, 2019 - 5:45pm

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Venue

ACLU-MI Grand Rapids Office

Address

1514 Wealthy Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
United States

E-mail address

jayoub@aclumich.org

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Date

Saturday, February 23, 2019 - 6:00pm

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DETROIT – In response to voters overwhelmingly passing three progressive ballot initiatives last November (voting rights expansion, marijuana legalization, and anti-gerrymandering), the Republican-led legislature passed a law during its lame duck session that will make it extremely difficult to gather the petition signatures needed to get any future proposal on the statewide ballot. The most controversial provision in the new law, which Governor Rick Snyder signed, requires that no more than 15 percent of the signatures gathered for a ballot proposal can come from any one of the state's 14 congressional districts.

In January, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson asked Attorney General Dana Nessel to issue an opinion regarding the validity of the law, and Nessel announced that she would welcome outside parties to submit legal memos on the issue. The ACLU of Michigan's letter to the Attorney General outlines how the new law violates the federal and state constitutions and hte federal Voting Rights Act. It explains that the law violates the Michigan Constitution since the constitution sets the number of signatures needed and the legislature cannot interfere with that by providing geographical restrictions. It also violates the First Amendment since circulating petitions is political speech unjustifiably burdened by the statute's restrictions. The law also violates the Voting Rights Act since it disproportionately impacts black voters. The vast majority of voting-age black voters in Michigan live in two districts statewide. Limiting the number of signatures that can come from one district will prevent hundreds of thousands of black voters from signing a petition. 

We urge the Attorney General to issue an opinion in the coming weeks declaring the law invalid and unenforceable. 

Read our letter to the Attorney General

Date

Monday, February 18, 2019 - 10:30am

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Voting Rights Free Speech

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